Method of manufacturing shoes



March 20, 1934. R. c. SIMMONS METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHOES Filed March 21. 1932 20' shoe upper.

Patented Mar. 20, 1934 UNITED STATES PATEN'T OFFICE 1 7 1,951,493 METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHOES Ralph C. Simmons, Beverly, Mass, assignor to g United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson,

N. J., a corporation of Application March 21,

12 Claims.

ginal portion of the sole and the welt toward the shoe upper thus producing a rolled-edge effect and. at times endangering the security of the cement bond by which the sole is attached to the welt. It is an object of my invention to provide an improved method and device by use of which the rolling of the marginal portion of the sole and of the welt toward the shoe upper will be obviated even though the soleand the welt extend a substantial distance beyond the With this in view, I propose to insert'in the crease between the welt and the shoe upper a filler piece comprising a strip of firm and flexible material, substantially non-resilient in the sense that it will retain the shape into which it is bent. This strip is preferably, substantially triangular in cross section, with the apex of the triangle pointing inwardly toward the inseam of the shoe, thereby supporting the welt against the sole attaching pressure.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawing and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective View illustrating the practice of my novelmethod;

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view illustrating the manner in which the Welt supporting strip is forced into the welt crease of the shoe;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the shoe during the application of the sole-attaching pressure;

Fig. 4 is a section through the inseam and adjacent parts of a shoe after the sole has been attached but before the welt supporting strip has been removed; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views of two forms of welt supporting strips.

In the practice of my invention the shoe, illustrated at 8 in Fig. 1, may be assembled, pulled over, lasted, welted, and inseam trimmed in any suitable manner, for example as disclosed in an application for Letters Patent of the United States Serial No. 580,781, filed December 14, 1931, in the name of D. W. Bunker. The inseam may New Jersey 7 1932, Serial No. 600,251

be rolled, the bottom filled, and the welt coated with pyroxylin cement also as disclosed in that application. After the cement on the welt 12 has dried but before the sole is attached, a welt crease filler piece comprising a supporting strip, illustrated at 10 in Fig. 1, is'inserted in the weltcreas'e, that is between the welt 12 and the upper 14 of the shoe. The strip 10 should be of flexible but substantially non-resilient material and is preferably substantially triangular in cross section. As illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the strip 10 is of rubber and is provided with a core 16' of, for example, lead or a lead alloy which is sufficiently firm and non resilient to cause the strip 10 to retain any form to which it is'bent. An end portion of the strip 10 is inserted manually in the crease between the welt and the upper at the end of the welt and a tack 18 is driven through the strip into the shoe, for example by means of a tack-inserting machine 20 as suggested in Fig. 1. The shoe is then moved toward a roll 22, preferably carried by a stationary support 24 which may be mounted upon the frame of the tack-inserting machine 20, and the shoe 8 is moved peripherally relatively to the roll 22 to force the strip 10 into the welt crease, first along one side of the shoe, then at the toe, and then rearwardly to the end of the welt at the other side of the shoe. As illustrated, and in order to reduce the care which the operator need use to maintain the roll 22 and the strip 10 in proper engagement, the roll is provided at its edges with a pair of shallow flanges 26 as best shown in Fig. 2. After the strip has been forced into the welt crease in this fashion, its other end may be se- 90 cured, if desired, by a second tack.

With the welt supported in this fashion, the sole 28 is cement attached. The sole is prepared in the usual way, its marginal portion being roughened at its attaching surface and then given a coat of pyroxylin cement. Immediately before the attachment of the sole, the cement on the welt and the adjacent part of the shoe bottom or on the sole or both is activated with a suitable softener and the sole is applied to the shoe I00 bottom, the shoe and sole being placed under pressure, for example in a cement sole attaching machine of the type disclosed in an application for Letters Patent of the United States Serial No. 388,739, filed August 27, 1929, in the name I05 of Milton I-I. Ballard. The pressure applying pad of such a machine is illustrated at 30 in Fig. 3. It will be observed that, as shown in Fig. 3,'the strip 10 prevents the welt 12 from being rolled upwardly toward or into engagement with the substantially non-resilient metal, such as lead or lead alloy, and such a strip is illustrated in v Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The strip illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 is provided at its upper engaging surface and also at its Welt engagingsurface with a shoulder 32 running lengthwise of the strip" and providing a recess or depression 34 back of the shoulder 32 into which the material of the upper end of the welt sinks under the sole attaching pressure, thereby obviating the possibility of the strip slipping and moving transversely of itself out of the welt crease. Similarly, the strip in Fig. 6 is provided with depressions 36 the walls of which form shoulders extending lengthwise of the strip, which depressions receive the shoe upper and welt under the sole attaching pressure in the same way and with the same result. It is obvious that it is not necessary, in order to obtain the benefit of these shoulders and'de'pressions, that they be formed in boththe shoe upper and the welt engaging surface of the strip, for a substantial part, at least, of their benefit will be obtained if they are formed in only one of these surfaces. 1

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: V

" 1. That improvement in methods of manufacturing welted shoes which comprises inserting a portion of a welt-supporting strip in the crease between the welt andthe upper of a welted shoe to which .the sole has not yet been attached, bringmg the portion of the strip which has been inserted in the crease into engagement with the edge of aroll, and causing relative movement of the shoe and the roll peripherally of the shoev while pressing the shoe forcibly toward andthe strip forcibly against the roll to work the strip into the crease; between the welt and the shoe upper.

' 2. That improvement in methods of manufacturing welted shoes which comprises inserting an end'portion of a temporary welt-supporting strip I betweenthe welt and the upper of a welted shoe to which the sole has not yet been attached,

.fastening into engagement with the edge of a roll, and causing relative movement of the shoe and the roll peripherally of the shoe while pressing the shoe and the strip forcibly against the roll to work the strip into the crease between the welt and the shoe upper. v

3. That improvement in methods of 'manufacturing welted shoes which comprises inserting an end portion of a temporarywelt supporting strip at one end of the crease between the welt and the upper of a welted shoe to which the sole hasrnot yet been attached, driving a fastening through the strip and .into the. shoe to serve as a emp ry ec m a for e st p, bringing the strip adjacent to the tack into engagement with the edge of a roll, and causing relative movement of theshoe and the roll peripherally of the shoe while pressing the strip and the roll forcibly against each other to work the strip into the crease between the welt and the shoe upper. I

4. That improvement in methods of manufacturing welted shoes which comprises inserting an end portion of a strip of material substantially triangular in cross section at one end of the crease between the welt and the upper of a welted shoe to which the sole has not yet been attached, driving a fastening through the end portion of the stripandinto the shoe adjacent to an end of the welt to serve as a temporary securing means for the strip, bringing the portion of the strip adjacent to the tack into engagement with the edge of a roll carried by a stationary support, and mov-' ing the shoe peripherally while pressing the strip forcibly against the roll to work the strip into the crease between the welt and the upper from the heel breast line forwardly about the toe of the shoe and. then rearwardly to the heel breast line on the other side.

5. A welt crease filler piece for supporting the welt of'a shoe against sole attaching pressure, comprising a strip of firm and flexible material having substantially the non-resilient nature of lead, said strip being substantially triangular in cross section.

6. A welt crease filler piece for supporting the welt of ashoe against soleattaching pressure, comprising a strip of firm material substantially triangular in cross section and provided with a core of flexible but substantially non-resilient material.

'7, A welt crease filler piece for supporting the welt of a shoe against sole attaching pressure, comprising a strip of rubber substantially trian-' gular in cross section and provided with a core of flexible but substantially non-resilient material, said strip being adapted to be inserted with its apex in the crease between the shoe upper and the welt.

8. A welt crease fillerpiece for supporting the welt of a shoe against sole attaching pressure, comprising a strip of rubber substantially triangular in cross section and provided with a lead core, said strip being adapted to be inserted with its apex in the crease between the shoe upper'and the welt.

9. A welt crease filler piece for supporting the welt of a shoe against sole attaching pressure, comprising a strip of firm and flexible-but sub stantially non-resilient material substantially triangular in cross-section and provided with a lengthwise extending depression into which the substance of the material of the shoe may be forced by the sole attaching pressure, thereby anchoring the strip against transverse movement away from the shoe.

ios

. 13 10. A welt crease filler piece for supporting the Welt of a shoe against sole attaching pressure, comprising a strip of firm and flexible but substantially non-resilient material substantially triangular in cross section and provided with a shoulder extending lengthwise of the strip and a depression back of the shoulder into which the substance of the shoe upper material may be forced by the sole attaching pressure, thereby anchoringthe strip against transverse movement away from the shoe.

Aremqvabl le i l metal Welt strip l r p ece s ape to fi n o t e. e s between t outer edges of a shoe bottom and the shoe upper and o such, length and flex il ty as o be c able of being bent around the toe from one side of the sole to the other.

12. A filler strip for supporting the outer edge of a shoe bottom against a form-supported shoe upper, for use in clamping and adhesively securing a sole to said upper, said strip being composed of material pliable enough to permit it to be CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,951,493. March 20, I934.

RALPH C. SIMMONS.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 20, for "upper end" read shoe upper and; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 19th day 0t June, A. D. 1934.

Bryan M. Battey (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

